Morgan Freeman is always awesome, so it rankles to see him used as strangely as he is here. He's clearly meant to be some sort of wizened Lucius Fox-style brainiac figure full of wisdom and good advice, but it just doesn't come off the way Pfister intended. Instead, he's sidelined throughout, relegated to talking about the evils of artificial machinery with the also-subdued Cillian Murphy. He then turns up at the end, hands Rebecca Hall a note then is subdued is laughably easy fashion. That's about the sum of his parts here, and it's an utter waste of an actor. Also, Paul Bettany's a good scientist because he wears a cross and wrote some papers saying machines should be facilitators and technicians to humans, not vice-versa, Rebecca Hall seems to have no motivation other than standing by her man (or iPad, as the film progresses) and Johnny Depp outs himself as a mad scientist at the start by refusing to duck the 'are-you-creating-a-god' question, instead choosing to pump up his ego. No-one's ever developed beyond that, meaning that while these characters all appear to have interesting exteriors, there's really nothing underneath it all. That'd be fine if this was merely a film about themes, but it isn't the writers are adamant to frame the overarching debate around these characters and their lives, as if they're interesting enough to spend time with. It all comes off like trying to play Beethoven's Fifth on the kazoo impossible to do well, given the parts available.
Durham University graduate and qualified sports journalist. Very good at sitting down and watching things. Can multi-task this with playing computer games. Football Manager addict who has taken Shrewsbury Town to the summit of the Premier League.
You can follow me at @Ed_OwenUK, if you like ramblings about Newcastle United and A Place in the Sun. If you don't, I don't know what I can do for you.
